“WE SAW WHAT THEY WROTE AND I THINK SOME OF THEM BELIEVE NONE OF US COULD READ,”

Wily villagers not fooled by EIA claim

17th February, 2010 PENAMPANG: When a group of people came calling on five remote villages located in the Crocker Range here recently claiming to conduct a study on a proposed project to build a dam, the normally welcoming villagers quickly became suspicious when their concerns over the project were abruptly ignored.

Diana Sipail, one such villager who was approached by the group, said the visitors claimed they had come to seek the opinions of the residents on the project.

However, she questioned their real motive upon noticing that whenever they gave an answer that disagreed with the questions, they would write down “No comment” in the forms.

“We saw what they wrote and I think some of them believe none of us could read,” she said.

They became more unsettled when they learnt that two men alleging to be bodyguards for the group, introduced themselves as officers from the Land and Survey Department in another village.

Between February 8 to February 10 recently, nine people arrived in the villages of Babagon Laut, Terian, Buayan, Tiku and Timpayasa apparently to compile data for an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report for a proposed dam project.

They made themselves known as “people of authority”, comprising seven men and two women, who were from a local company Ensolve Sdn Bhd, the Department of Environment and the Land and Survey Department.

The outsiders had to trek on foot to each village in the Crocker Range because the only access available is a dirt track to Terian but only during dry days.

Residents in the five villages have set up an Anti-Kaiduan Dam Action Committee to protest the project which will affect them.

Committee chairman Nousi Giun said the visitors did not produce any approval letter from the Environmental Protection Department which is required before an EIA study is conducted within a community.

“They also did not seek permission from the two Village Security and Development Committee chairmen of the five villages,” he said.

Babagon Laut and Terian belong to one committee while Buayan, Tiku and Timpayasa to the other committee.

Nousi pointed out that the group also failed to take “scoping notes” to identify relevant issues that affect the residents.

“We urge the authorities to look into this because it was not conducted according to what is contained in the Handbook of Environmental Impact Assessment of Sabah which clearly states all the proper procedures,” he said.

Nousi said they have filed official complaints to the Penampang District Officer, the Environmental Protection Department and the Tourism, Culture and Environment Ministry over the matter and hope that it would be resolved accordingly.